UKRI / BBSRC - Buildings & Asset Manager

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

UKRI / BBSRC - Buildings & Asset Manager

Salary:  £51,716 per annum
Hours:  Full time
Contract Type:  Open Ended
Location:  Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire
Grade:  UKRI Band F
Closing Date: 01 November 2023

About the role

Are you a hands-on problem solver with experience of working with a major corporate environment? Do you have an excellent understanding of property, landlord and tenant law? And most importantly, do you look at issues in the round and take a collaborative and diplomatic approach to your work? If you do this challenging and dynamic role maybe of interest to you, one where you will join a small and technically astute team which acts as an internal centre of knowledge and expertise in the management and development of property on behalf of BBSRC.  Using all your skills and expertise you will work with a number of internal colleagues across UKRI and other Research Councils along with external Institute property and management professionals to resolve and manage a wide range of complex property issues.

Ideally RICS qualified in an appropriate discipline we will expect you to have significant experience in property and asset management techniques in a corporate or public sector environment.  This is a role where no day will be the same as the next and you will use all your knowledge and experience to help provide a better research environment for BBSRC supported science, whilst ensuring UKRI Freehold assets are being managed efficiency and effectively.      

Role Purpose

With superb team working skills and the ability to engage with everyone across the management and operational spectrum, including consultants and contractors, your friendly, approachable attitude will make you a ‘go to’ member of our team.  Always ready to use your initiative to build engagement and deliver positive results, you will have high levels of integrity and proven experience of work on matters that involve a range of complex legal and technical issues in a property context.    

Your core duties will be to develop and maintain within the BBSRC estates team, building maintenance and asset management knowledge and expertise ensuring that effective and sustainable maintenance systems and polices are in place at BBSRC Institutes to safeguard UKRI freehold assets and for assets into which BBSRC invests capital into the maintenance, improvement, and renewal of.

Key activities

To develop, maintain and update BBSRC’s own strategic asset management strategies and estate management policies for the UKRI estate under its supervision, and to provide advice and guidance to Institute representatives to ensure sites establish and operate their own strategic asset management strategies as well as a detailed, annually updated, yearly estate investment and maintenance plan. Both developed in accordance with Government property standards and industry recognised best practice principles.

In consultation with BBSRC internal stakeholders approve appropriateness and adequacy of Institute property management policies and maintenance plans, working collaboratively to assess and agree their priorities and supporting the all-party agreement of plans.  

You will be required to keep in regular contact with site estate management teams and undertake visits to sites when required to provide support in the development of proposals and to offer advice and guidance. These meetings maybe face to face or conducted virtually via video conference software.

When required, you will lead on the selection of the appointment of professional consultants to provide specific services, monitoring performance and approving payments all with due regard to public sector propriety. The type of service provision is the delivery of periodic condition surveys and estate valuations of sites or individual assets to support and inform BBSRC decision making. Dealings are likely to be at Partner level within smaller practices, and Associates in large practices.

When required to do so, directly manage project works connected with the estate’s portfolio performing the role of project manager/contract administrator ensuring that adequate management processes are in place that accord with best practice for the size and complexity of the project.

Through dialogue with Institute representatives, and by the direct inspection of the build estate if required, you will provide advice, guidance, and ultimately recommendation on the support for the Institutes strategic long term environmental improvement strategies, including the minimization of their operational running costs for their estates. This will involve setting and agreeing appropriate standards and targets to be achieved and the periodic benchmarking of performance and resource allocations across all sites.  You will be expected to run and maintain periodic key performance indicators (KPI) reporting on site performance and report outcomes back to key stakeholders within BBSRC and at Institutes to enable the benchmarking of improvements across time and to monitor value for money of capital deployed and invested into the estate by BBSRC and the Institutes themselves.

You will be required to conduct regular reviews of the progress and implementation of estates capital investments cases, monitoring project expenditure levels, and providing verification of site reports on completion of works. Producing regular progress and year end reports on the status of the maintenance and sustainability improvement programmes and the current estate condition to BBSRC management and to annually update BBSRC’s own strategic asset management plan to reflect changes in the supported estate across time. 

In consultation with Institutes representatives, you will support and help them develop computer-based estate management information systems for the effective upkeep and operation of their site facilities. This will involve making judgements on the appropriateness of these systems being employed through risk assessment and monitoring the effectiveness of these systems.

You will be supporting t he BBSRC estate business case programme, acting as the estates project manager, supporting the programme Chair to deliver the calls for estate investments. Managing the business case bids received and the reviewing of the cases by the panel members. Once approved you will then lead on the strategic delivery oversight of the capital investments approved.   This activity will also involve the carrying out of post completion reviews on a sample number of cases per year, producing a completion report on the attainment of the delivery outcomes and the alignment to the business cases original goals and objectives.    

You will also maintain and develop the BBSRC property information databases that informs the BBSRC strategic asset management plan and estate policies, producing reports on the current database as and when required.

Additionally, provide ad-hoc landlord and tenant advice dealing with leasing matters and Notices received in connection with the BBSRC estate.

Continual professional development and other specific training measures is essential to ensure professional and technical knowledge, including computing skills, is kept current and appropriate for the duties of the post.

Shortlisting criteria

Essential:

• A professional Associate of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors or similar standard property related professional membership.
• Experience of direct management of projects, acting in the role of project manager and or contract administrator.
• Management of budgets and allocation of expenditure to multiple parties.
• Excellent knowledge of asset management practices and landlord and tenant experience.
• Good knowledge of Office 365 and SharePoint applications and estate property management systems.
• Evidence of the ability to write clear and concise documents with particular emphasis on report writing and production

Desirable:

• A Property related degree
• Evidence of regular study in support of Continued Professional Development
• Experience of working with a mixture of property types
• Knowledge of the application and management of key performance indicators for property management
• Experience in the management of budgets and project risks
• Knowledge of writing specifications and production of tender documentation
• Knowledge of Mechanical & Electrical systems
• A willingness to develop and operate IT systems for the control of property estates. 
• Experience of working in the public sector and working with multiple clients and organisations from differing sectors
• Full driving licence.

Interview

• Experience in maintenance works, planned preventative maintenance regimes, quality and durability maintenance, improvements and small works.
• Good communication and time management skills and the ability to prioritise and deal with difficult situations, responding flexibly, whilst also dealing with ambiguity to deliver successful outcomes.
• Negotiating skills with the ability to understand the importance of two-way communication with excellent listening skills.
• The ability to work closely with colleagues to build strong relationships and support for initiatives, aligning activity and resources to deliver strategic objectives. Commitment to working in a partnership fashion and as a team member.
• The ability to respond positively to change, demonstrating agility and flexibility particularly when problem solving.
• Represent the estates team in a professional manner when communicating and dealing with internal and external personal and commitment to the professional ethos.
• To be able to deal with a large number of concurrent tasks and be responsible for planning and prioritising own work area and the work of others; trusting and empowering others to take ownership and work independently.
• Demonstrable and absolute commitment to health and safety and associated legal/code of practice requirements in terms of ensuring compliance and the highest standards in respect of all estates related matters.
• Willingness to travel throughout the UK with occasional overnight stays.